Simultaneous amplification and shaping of excimer lasers using Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in the strongly damped limit

TL;DR

This paper explores how Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in the strongly damped limit can be used to precisely shape and amplify excimer laser pulses, enhancing their suitability for inertial fusion energy applications.

Contribution

It introduces an analytic framework for controlling laser pulse shape via SBS in the SDL, enabling near-complete pulse shaping through initial seed design.

Findings

SBS in SDL can nearly fully determine the final pulse shape.

Analytic formulas for seed pulse design are derived.

Physical limits on prepulse levels are identified.

Abstract

Attaining practical Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) depends on how efficiently one can couple the driver energy to the nuclear fusion fuel for compression and ignition. While the excimer lasers provide an efficient alternative compared to existing laser technology, it is unclear how the lasers can be harnessed to form a pulse with desired pulse shape and intensity. Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) provides a path to compressing long, energetic pulses to short intense ones. We consider the equations governing SBS in the Strongly Damped Limit (SDL) and find that it is possible to almost completely specify the final pulse shape by providing an appropriate initial seed pulse. We provide analytic expressions for reverse-engineering the initial seed shape and delineate physical limits concerning the prepulse level.